king pins?

[wimp]

I have a 94 disco I.
In the past year or so, I have been refurbishing the suspension and steering components. All new ball joints, steering gear, bushings, hubs/bearing assemblies, etc. I am through the entire list, yet the vehicle does not want to drive in a straight line. When on the road, the truck suddenly will wander fairly abruptly. If you are not paying attention, you might crash. Do the king pins wear out? can they cause this wandering. I assume there are bearings in which the king pins live? I also have not gone into the steering box yet, but it seems ok. no excessive play or anything.

any advice would be great
:banghead:

 

[ptschram]

It's called Swivel Pin Preload. Yes, there are bearing and thrust washers that need to be replaced and adjusted periodically.

 

[wimp]

I am loosly familiar with the setup, how is it adjusted? do I have to take the whole hub assembly apart or can I simply adjust it in place?
If on a lift, how can I check if that is the problem. I have tugged and or pried on all the ball joints to check if loose, but the swivel housing seems pretty stout and not able to move. Is there a technique?

thanks

 

[wimp]

In case I was not clear....

1994 Disco I
has a 2" lifted OME springs (med springs)
OME shocks
245-75-R16 Goodyear MTR's
NRP exhaust
Chip, not sure the brand
don't remember the mileage

 

[MUSKYMAN]

you said you replaced the steering gear but you also said you have yet to do the steering box?...those are one in the same.

how much lift do you have?

as you lift a D1 the truck then has less caster the 94's seem to have less caster to start with (I own one). Caster is what creates stability or recentering force as you drive down the road.

the swivels are adjusted by changing the total thickness of a combination of shims under the upper swivel pin/king pin. the first step I reccomend is to replace the upper flat bearing and the thrust washers and use the same combination of shims that is in there and see what that gives you for preload. Preload is the resistance to turning with the tie rod and drag link disconnected and the swivel ball seal removed.

 

[MUSKYMAN]

2"lift shouldent make the caster a issue really so I have to say you need to look at the swivels.

 

[wimp]

Sorry, I have always referred to all the steering rods as "the steering gear" (gear, meaning equipment).
Thanks for the lesson on Caster. Although I think that the thousands of disco I's out there with 2" lifts have never worried about caster.

Any advice on adjusting the preload on the swivels? Is this an item that falls out of adjustment, or does it wear and need to be replaced?
what spec should I be adjusting to?

thanks

 

[wimp]

bump

 

[DiscoveryXD]

you adjust the preload by adding or removing the shims. the farther down the swivel pin goes inside the housing, the more preload, and vise versa. You add or subtract shims until you reach the desired preload.

do a search, there's a few threads on this since i had to do it not to long ago. I had death wobble when braking at high speeds

 

[RichardS]

Also search here for "RAVE CD", get one for yourself. It has the shop manual on it and it will show you the procedure and spec for doing this adjustment.

You can probably get away with just subtracting a shim or two until the preload is on spec. If anything is worn it is likely the upper bearing and the two thrust washers on either side of it. They are cheap so you could just replace them for piece of mind.

 

[MUSKYMAN]

Also search here for "RAVE CD", get one for yourself. It has the shop manual on it and it will show you the procedure and spec for doing this adjustment.

You can probably get away with just subtracting a shim or two until the preload is on spec. If anything is worn it is likely the upper bearing and the two thrust washers on either side of it. They are cheap so you could just replace them for piece of mind.

the reason I posted this

the first step I reccomend is to replace the upper flat bearing and the thrust washers and use the same combination of shims that is in there and see what that gives you for preload. .

is that after dealing with my own and watching people on here the remove shims method is just a really temporary band-aid. if the flat bearing is worn cranking up the pressure on it just makes them disintegrate and that causes horrible instant death wobble(read not good)

Because the thrust washers and the bearings are only $26 for both sides I think its a better practice to just go ahead and replace them right off. infact on when you do the original shim pack will then bring the pre-load right back into spec from what I have seen.

Paople can do it any way they like...but IMHO this is by far and away the best way

oh yeah...I have yet to see a bottom bearing look anything other then perfect